Livestock Guardian Dogs
Livestock guardian dogs are invaluable when it comes to protecting livestock from predators. Dogs have been used to protect livestock from predators in this manner around the world for over 2000 years. They have been used to protect sheep, goats, cattle, chickens, ducks, etc. On our farm, primarily coyotes, occasionally domestic dogs and rarely black bears are the predators our dogs are likely to have to guard against. Other predators that may threaten some of our livestock include birds of prey and weasels. In some parts of the world, livestock guardian dogs are even used to protect livestock from large felids, such as protecting goats from cheetahs in Africa, with great success. These dogs mainly protect the herd or flock by vocal intimidation (barking) and displaying aggressive behaviour, although they do sometimes have physical altercations with predators also. Dogs have been shown to be a wildlife friendly way of protecting livestock and have also been shown to be much more successful than trying to kill the predators that come onto the farm. In addition to the dogs being with the livestock all the time (constant supervision), when one predator is killed, another predator tends to come into the new territory quickly.
Livestock guardians primarily protect livestock instinctively when they are imprinted or bonded with the individuals / species that they are intended to protect. Imprinting when a dog is young, 3-16 weeks of age, is the best way to begin their training. However, these dogs do need to be trained to behave properly around the livestock also (ie. not playing too rough with the goats or chasing the chickens). These dogs are not considered to be fully trained until they are full grown at 2 years of age. Adult dogs can be very helpful in teaching young dogs which behaviours are appropriate as well.
We love our livestock guardian dogs! They are such an important part of the farm!
Molly is a Great Pyrenees x Maremma. Her job is to protect the goats from predators. She takes her job very seriously. Molly was born in February 2013. At almost 2 years of age, she is doing very well. Despite the fact that she was born with livestock guarding instincts she still had a lot to learn! Molly was born and raised with sheep but when she joined our farm at 3 months of age she really wanted to play with the goats. She did not have an older dog to teach her right and wrong. I used a variety of different tactics to ensure she kept her confidence around the goats but also learned to not be too rough with the goats. She still isn’t completely ready to be in within newborn goat kids but she has come a long way and is showing so much promise. Keep up the good work Molly!
Livestock guardians primarily protect livestock instinctively when they are imprinted or bonded with the individuals / species that they are intended to protect. Imprinting when a dog is young, 3-16 weeks of age, is the best way to begin their training. However, these dogs do need to be trained to behave properly around the livestock also (ie. not playing too rough with the goats or chasing the chickens). These dogs are not considered to be fully trained until they are full grown at 2 years of age. Adult dogs can be very helpful in teaching young dogs which behaviours are appropriate as well.
We love our livestock guardian dogs! They are such an important part of the farm!
Molly is a Great Pyrenees x Maremma. Her job is to protect the goats from predators. She takes her job very seriously. Molly was born in February 2013. At almost 2 years of age, she is doing very well. Despite the fact that she was born with livestock guarding instincts she still had a lot to learn! Molly was born and raised with sheep but when she joined our farm at 3 months of age she really wanted to play with the goats. She did not have an older dog to teach her right and wrong. I used a variety of different tactics to ensure she kept her confidence around the goats but also learned to not be too rough with the goats. She still isn’t completely ready to be in within newborn goat kids but she has come a long way and is showing so much promise. Keep up the good work Molly!
Gus is a Great Pyrenees x Akbash and he is our newest livestock guardian dog. He was born October 12th, 2015 and was raised with goats since birth. At ~10 weeks of age and 23 lbs he joined our farm and began his bonding and training with our herd. We are hopeful that Molly will help with his training as he has a long road ahead. We will let you know how he progresses!
Gus is growing like a weed! At 16 weeks of age he already weighed 53 lbs!